Positive outlook

Hornets show competitiveness in loss to seventh-ranked Harrison

By Phil Friend

ROSSVILLE - Although Rossville was swept by Harrison in three games, there was a lot for Kathy Seager to like about her squad's performance Monday.

Sophomore Brinsley Cooper called the match the best one Rossvile played all season. It may seem outlandish, but when a Class A school takes on a ranked 4A team, there's a reason for such optimism.

Even though the fourth-ranked Raiders won, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-8), the Hornets made Game 2 awfully interesting. The Hornets (10-6) led most of the way, using a 12-3 run to lead 14-6, prompting Harrison coach Lori Janssen to call timeouts on back-to-back plays.

The run was ignited by Cooper, who registered five kills, two aces and a block during that stretch.

"It's pretty much an adrenaline rush and when you get back on the bench you're still shaking," Cooper said. "It's an awesome feeling."

However, Harrison turned the tide quickly with a 7-0 run to tie it at 14. From there it went back and forth, with Cooper scoring a kill and ace on back-to-back points to tie things up at 20.

The key play of the match came with Harrison leading 21-20. After a long rally, Rossville's Alex Baker was called for a lift. Although the Hornet crowd did not like the call, Seager said it was the right one.

"That was just one of those plays that took the wind our sails," Seager said. "We were doing well, playing in that rally. But that's the way the game goes."

Harrison scored the game's final three points to win, 25-20.

Rossville was able to keep it close early in Game 1, using a kill and block from Cooper to get within 8-6. But from there, Harrison went on a 7-1 run to lead 15-7 and followed that with a 6-1 run.

Game 3 was never in question as the Hornets ran out of steam. Harrison routed them, 25-8.

"If we play like this the rest of the season, we're going to be really good," Seager said. "We really took advantage of the stuff that they give us. They earned their points. It wasn't our mistakes; if that's the way we'll lose a volleyball game, I'm OK with that."

Cooper finished with eight kills, four blocks and three aces. Being a middle hitter, Cooper is only on the court for 50 percent of a given match, and her presence on the court makes a huge difference.

"I wish I had six Brinsleys," Seager said. "She does a great job up front and when we keep her up there, it's a momentum builder for us and gets us going and helps everyone else get going."